Mrs Buhari advocates adequate resources for nutrition

The Wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, has advocated adequate financial and technical resources to implement nutrition programmes in order to eliminate malnutrition in the country.

Buhari said this at an event to flag off Nutrition Road Walk from Sandralia Hotel, Utako, to Utako Market on Tuesday in Abuja.

The walk was part of the activities to commemorate the 2017 Nutrition Week, aimed at intensifying awareness creation on the important role of food and nutrition in child survival and its impact on productivity.

Buhari, represented by Mrs Pauline Tallen, former Deputy Governor of Plateau, said healthy nutrition was part of healthy living.

According to her, what people eat make difference in their health status.

“We are aware of the indices of malnutrition and negative impact on social and economic development.

“What is required is adequate financial and technical resources in implementing necessary programme and projects that will dramatically improve the nutritional situation as a nation.

“Nigeria should make all effort to allocate the resources needed for elimination of malnutrition in all forms.’’

Buhari, however, told the stakeholders that the focus of her pet programme – Future Assured – was to take care of the nutritional need of women and children, especially the less privileged and the Internally Displaced Persons.

The Minister of State, Ministry of Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, said that 2016 Nutrition Week witnessed the launched of the revised National Policy on Food and Nutrition.

Ahmed said that the policy, a 10-year blueprint, had been disseminated nationwide as part of the strategy for ensuring its smooth implementation.

“It is reported that almost all the States have been able to domesticate the Policy and have gone ahead to develop their specific cost plan of action.

“This is heart-warming as it demonstrates ownership across the States of the federation.

“Other dividends arising from the launch of the revised Policy included the development of sectoral strategies in line with the policy by Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development, Health and others.

“Partners are also keying into the approved Policy to situate their various interventions to push the frontiers of the fight against malnutrition in Nigeria,’’ she said.

Ahmed, however, said the ministry had come up with the draft implementation plan for the Policy which would soon be finalised.

The Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Mr Leon Aliboh, said that the 2017 edition of the Nutrition Week was targeted at high level stakeholders at the National and Sub-national levels.

Aliboh said it would also serve as platform to sensitise stakeholders on the relevance of mainstreaming food and nutrition policies and programmes into the Economic Growth and Recovery Plan (ERGP) at all levels of government.

“The Nutrition Week with the theme: `Improved Nutrition and Empowerment’, speaks to two of the three broad strategic objectives of the ERGP – Economic Growth and Investing in our People.

“We will use the occasion to show case how the Food and Nutrition Policy has been mainstreamed into the ERGP.

“This is more appropriate at this time to ensure that a budget line is created for food and nutrition stakeholders in the relevant Ministries Departments and Agencies at all levels,’’ he said.

In his goodwill message, Prof. Tola Atinmo, Father of Nutrition in Nigeria, assured the ministry of the support of experts and academia in the sector.

“Future assurance of children can only be assured by proper nutrition, so I want to assure that the week celebration will achieve greater success than the last year’s celebration,’’ Atinmo said.

The maiden 2016 edition of nutrition week witnessed the investiture of Hajiya Aisha Buhari as Nutrition Ambassador of Nigeria.

Meanwhile, a number of activities had been outlined for the week, which included road walks, advocacy in churches and mosques well as symposia.

Other activities include news conference and public enlightenment campaigns, aimed at behaviour change towards healthy diets by the general public.